Russell Williams leaves court in Belleville, Ont., on Oct. 21, 2010, to begin serving two life sentences for murder.Nathan Denette
Laurie Massicotte, a neighbour and sexual-assault victim of Russell Williams who has complained that doubting officers left her tied at the crime scene for hours and treated with skepticism, is now suing the Ontario Provincial Police along with her aggressor and his ex-wife.
The suit also raises the prospect that there was a third victim of sexual assault at the hand of Mr. Williams, a case that has never been disclosed, the CBC reported.
The statement of claim was filed Friday in Belleville Superior Court. Earlier that week, at the OPP's annual awards ceremony, the force bestowed an Accolade Award to a team of 35 of its officers and employees who were involved in the Williams investigation.
Ms. Massicotte's $7-million civil suit criticizes the OPP for failing to alert the public in the Belleville, Ont., area to previous sexual assaults and a string of fetish break-ins in the community that were eventually linked to Mr. Williams, the former commander of Canada's busiest military airfield, CFB Trenton.
Ms. Massicotte lived close to Mr. Williams' home in Tweed, Ont. The former air force colonel broke into her home on Sept. 30, 2009. He blindfolded her, tied her up and photographed her in the nude for hours.
After responding to her 911 call, police left her tied up for hours while they documented and gathered evidence, she has previously complained, describing how afterward she also had to parade in her bathroom before other officers.
She also says in her suit that she heard officers talk on their radio and describing her as "being crazy."
She also alleges that police told a neighbour she had made up claims that copycatted a similar assault 12 days earlier on the same street.
In fact, she says she hadn't been told of that incident and faults the police for failing to warn residents that a sex predator was at large.
"The biggest question would be the fact that I wasn't warned about this," Ms. Massicotte, who chose to reveal her identity and speak publicly about her ordeal, told the CBC in an interview. "I wasn't warned about previous incidents."
Her lawsuit says she has heard that there were actually two previous sexual assaults before hers, meaning that Mr. Williams assaulted a third victim but was never charged for that attack.
Mr. Williams eventually was arrested in February 2010.
A few weeks after his arrest, he and his now divorced wife, Mary-Elizabeth Harriman, divided up their chief assets in an arrangement whereby he became sole owner of the cottage in Tweed, while she gained control of the much more valuable home in Ottawa.
An earlier sexual-assault victim of Mr. Williams, whose name cannot be disclosed under a publication ban, has filed a $2.45-million suit against him and his former wife.
That civil suit alleges that the asset swap was meant to put the Westboro home, worth around $800,000, beyond the reach of any civil claim for compensation.
Mr. Williams is now serving a life sentence after he pleaded guilty a year ago to the murders of Jessica Lloyd, 27, and Marie-France Comeau, 37, along with two sexual assaults and more than 80 fetish break-ins where he stole lingerie and other pieces of women's clothing.